Evil Empire or . . .

. . . damn Yankees.  In a recent court case judges have ruled that the phrase “Evil Empire” belongs to the New York Yankees.  The so-called “Evil Empire” moniker started out as an insult by their archrivals’ team president, Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino in 2002.  Trademark judges ruled that an entrepreneur cannot register the phrase for business purposes as it belongs to the Yankees . . . by default.  The judges confirmed, once and for all, that . . . “The record shows that there is only one EVIL EMPIRE in baseball and it is the New York Yankees.”

Duh!  I have been a lifetime fan of the Baltimore Orioles—a league mate of the Yankees, and have known that this designation of their team was appropriate.  Apologies to the Star Wars franchise.  The term, widely used by fans and the media, to describe the Yankees and their stockpiling of superstars and dominance in the sport fits.  No one is arguing that . . . especially anyone who roots for any team but the Yankees in the American League East Division.  This one is a gimme!

Being a Baltimore Orioles fan I have never really thought of the Yankees as being the “Evil Empire” . . . nope, they have always been those “damn Yankees” . . . always.  I cannot stand the Yankees, and that is putting it mildly.  I’ll even root for the National League representative in the World Series before I root for the Yankees.  I think that my sentiments are held by many American League fans.  In fact, I blame those damn Yankees for the years of futility that my beloved Birds endured when the owner of the Orioles decided to try a Steinbrenner and buy a team to be competitive with those damn Yankees.  That was nearly two decades ago and the Orioles are finally pulling themselves out of the basement with good ol’ fashion Birds baseball—using the farm system.  Damn Yankees!

For me, they will always be the “damn Yankees”.  Maybe it is a generational thing, but one thing that every generation of Yankee hater will tell you . . . they are evil.  There have only been two Yankee players that I have ever appreciated . . . Thurman Munson and Yogi Berra . . . both catchers.  Thurman was the anti-Yankee Yankee player who died way too young.  Yogi . . . well, he speaks in such a way that I understand him . . . he makes sense and doesn’t take himself too seriously.  I like catchers and these were two of the best . . . it is just too bad they were damn Yankees!

It is good that the courts finally confirmed what the rest of us already knew . . . the damn Yankees are the Evil Empire.  We can all rest assured that what we assumed is true . . . Accordingly to the papers, the Yankees declined to comment on the case.  There has been a disturbance in the “force” . . . where is Luke Skywalker and Hans Solo when need them?  Damn . . . Yankees!